A holdfast is a woodworker's tool used to quickly and temporarily secure a workpiece to the surface of a workbench during operations such as planing or shaping of the workpiece. The holdfast is customarily formed from round stock and has a flattened contact surface at one end known as the beak or pad that is positioned on the upper surface of the workpiece. A generally straight portion known as the arm extends upwardly at an acute angle to the pad's planar surface. An intermediate curved portion referred to as the crook terminates in a straight shaft portion known as the stem that is secured by frictional contact with the interior surface of a vertical hole bored in the top of the workbench. The hole in the workbench is somewhat larger in diameter than the stem of the holdfast. The angle formed by the longitudinal axis of the shaft or stem portion and the plane formed by the contact surface of the beak is less than 90° and is referred to in the description and claims that follow as the “predetermined working angle”.
This relative configuration of the elements allows the shaft of the holdfast to effectively be wedged into a vertical hole bored through the top of the bench. The holdfast is tightened onto the work piece by tapping the upper end of the shaft or stem with a hammer or mallet and released by tapping the side of the shaft.
Holdfasts have been produced by blacksmiths using conventional techniques for heating, flattening and shaping the several portions. Forging a holdfast is time-consuming and therefore expensive.
Holdfasts have also been produced by casting the entire tool as a single piece. Castings are both brittle and do not flex in the manner of a forged metal tool.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method for efficiently and reproduceably manufacturing holdfasts of various sizes that is economical and that can be readily adapted to permit modifications to the configuration of the finished articles.